Over here we took the preventive approach. From day one we kept our daughter away from electric cords and kept telling her "we don't touch electricity!" every time she came close to touching a cord. Of course this is easier when the child is younger and less mobile, but now that she's 2, she seems to stay away from cords of any kind on her own.

Wow, I love this answer! That sounds like a great approach. Do you think this could have effects through life, though? Will she always have this weird panic about dealing with electricity? Does she seem scared about the cables or only uninterested? (Sorry if I sound somewhat harsh, it's a legitimate question -- I definitely want to take your approach.)

Actually she's not afraid of the cords and cables... she's inquisitive and wants to play with them. Some of the time we still have to remind her of the motto, and other times she steers clear by herself. I believe that in time she will learn to avoid the cables on her own, and when she's old enough I'll teach her about electricity and safety (if she shows an interest of course).

If you don't have to move the cords frequently, I'd suggest get a couple of zip ties to pull them together and out of the way. Perhaps you could attach them and the surge protector to the bottom of the desk or the wall at desk height, making them difficult for the baby to reach.

At my parents' house, the biggest problem was toddlers walking up and pushing the power button while mom was working on the computer. :)

Our toddler has just discovered crawling under the desk and finding the red lit-up button on the 4-way power adapter. We thought we were safe with the computer's reset button unplugged inside and the power button needing to be held down for four seconds to do anything, but no, the cheeky mite foiled us again!

I suggest getting a cabinet you can lock (at least well enough that the baby can't open it ;) ) and cutting some holes at the top so you can put the wires through. This way you can keep your peripherals (and surge protector) in there and connect everything to the computer on the desk.

Same applies to the connection to the power outlet, of course, through the back of the cabinet.